VIENNA — Pymatuning Valley outlasted an energetic first half by Mathews to get a 64-37 win at Rex Leach Court in Northeast Athletic Conference action on Monday.

Early on, Mathews (6-7, 4-4 NAC Stars) was firing on all cylinders — getting out to a 9-0 lead with 6:17 left in the first quarter. Mathews continued its hot start through the quarter and held a slim lead after one quarter, 17-13.

“It’s always tough to come here and play,” Pymatuning Valley coach Jeff Compan said. “It’s a unique gym. Just like they had, we played on Thursday and Saturday. We were flat and they just put it right to us. In the timeout, I told them to just be patient. There’s a lot of game left.”

In the second quarter, Pymatuning Valley (10-3, 8-0) began to find its way. The Lakers started to find better shots while playing better defense. Mathews’ lack of depth started to show through, but no excuses were made.

PV went into halftime up, 32-29. Kendall Baker had 11 points for the Lakers and Bailey Hall had eight points for the Mustangs.

“There are times when we come out and sustain that intensity like we had in the first quarter,” Mathews coach Aaron Pounds said. “Other times, we fall apart in the second half. I have to get better as a coach. I’m a first-year coach and at the end of the day this falls on me. I have to do more drills on boxing out. This was on me, not on the kids.”

The second half was all Lakers as it outscored Mathews, 35-8.

“We’ve started slow recently,” Compan said. “The last few games we’ve started really slow. Hopefully that’s not a trend because we are a streaky team. Once we kind of find our niche on offense, the ball starts to move better. It was really important that we came out in that second half to get the ball rolling quickly.”

PV continued its now four-game win streak and remain undefeated in NAC play.

“The seniors have to recognize and understand that they led by example,” Pounds said. “The young girls sometimes come out and watch them play and they have to be able to set that example. Tonight, it just wasn’t a very good example. At the end of the day, it is still my fault.”

PV now looks ahead to Windham at home on Wednesday while Mathews faces Windham on Thursday on the road.